“Ofcom has cleared Jeremy Clarkson’s comparison of a Japanese car to the Elephant Man of breaching the broadcasting code, despite more than 40 complaints that it was offensive to people suffering from facial disfigurement.”

“Employment tribunals do not have the jurisdiction to apportion liability for compensation in discrimination claims where more than one party is at fault, the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) has ruled.”

“Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson has won permission to appeal against a high court ruling that News International is not liable to pay his potential legal fees over the phone-hacking scandal.”

“The concept of ‘fitness to plead’ is often a source of confusion. It is not solely a consideration of whether the defendant is actually capable of being arraigned on the indictment. The question to be addressed is whether a defendant is fit to enter a plea and stand trial. A person may have sufficient capacity to deny the allegation that is made and yet be unable to undergo the entire trial process. The defence should not overlook the possible benefits, where properly available, to a defendant of a finding of unfitness to plead. Where the issue of fitness to plead is raised it must be determined by a Judge. The defendant ought not to be arraigned before this issue is determined. If a defendant is found unfit to plead there is a further hearing before a jury to determine whether or not he did the act or acts alleged. If unsure, the defendant will be acquitted and so he will have the advantage of challenging the Crown’s evidence. If the finding is adverse to the defendant then the Judge has the power to make a hospital order (with or without restriction), a supervision order or an absolute discharge. The defendant can be diverted from the prison system in this way.”

“False reports to the police are rare. Most complaints are truthful and accurate and amount to a proper grievance. However, there are some that are either false or wild exaggerations of the truth. There are yet more that may well be true but amount only to such a trivial complaint that a reasonable person would not think it worthy of the attention of the authorities. The subject of such reporting has hitherto had limited redress in law. Unless the Crown were wiling to prosecute the accuser the chances of retribution were small. The case of Waxman has brought to notice an area of civil redress.”

“Justice Minister Jonathan Djanogly met today with business leaders to launch ‘Justice for Business: Supporting Business and Promoting Growth,’ a new paper outlining how the Government’s ambitious reform programme is making the justice system more effective, less costly and better for business.”

“The decision to censure a Welsh councillor for comments on his blog was a disproportionate interference with his right to freedom of expression, the High Court has ruled. This right requires a broad interpretation of what counts as ‘political speech’ – even when the speech is sarcastic and mocking.”